Oh for Lush Pastures

Oh to return to lush pastures and warmer weather. Oh for more sunlight so that I can actually work with the horses. I guess instead I need to remember to take pictures in the spring/summer so that during the months of snow I can reflect on the lush pastures I'll soon have.

The following pictures were taken early summer when the pasture was nice and lush. Late mornings are great for taking pictures in the summer. Winter is a different beast for taking pictures. Now if I could only find the darn camera!

King with Brego and Chaos in the background. King is still dealing with sore muscles. The vet gave me some powder medicine but I may have to take him in for a shot. Not looking forward to that spendy shot and the possibility it could kill him.

The only bad thing about having a white horse is they show off the dirt.

I've changed my work schedule so that I can now get home a half hour sooner so I can do chores in a little bit of light. I took advantage of the new schedule and headed right out the door. I had almost all my chores done before darkness set in. It's amazing how much light there is even after the sun sets.

I've now had Brego for a year and a month. He looks pretty good in the above picture and that was only six months of good quality feed. When I first got him, you could see his ribs, hips, and spine. I've never had a horse come in to Borderlands that bad until him. I'd rate him as a 2 on the scale. I'm not sure but I think both Brego and Maverick went through yet another growth spurt this fall. I think next spring Brego will be ready for the trainer. He was a conformation wreck when I first got him so I wanted to give him a year. Now that a year has passed I think his body can handle some intense training.

I'm getting my hay tomorrow so even though I no longer have lush pastures I can start properly feeding the herd good quality hay. I've been using the small squares but they are just ditch hay. They can handle that type of hay until true winter sets in. Then they need the good quality hay. It'll cost me a fortune but everyone seems to thrive on dairy quality hay.

I need to stuff poor Sam full of the good quality hay to get him back to shape. The cold/infection and ulcers really took a toll on the poor guy. I'm thinking of taking him to the vet. When I gave him a shot of penicillan the junk from his nose cleared up. The problem is, he still has a huge welt from the first shot. I've been giving him uniprim but today is the last day and he still has a bit of stuff coming out of his nose. So it may be time for yet another vet bill. Why do all the vet bills come during the fall?

King, Brego, Chaos, Bob, and Dude enjoying the lush pastures that are now gone. At least with fall/winter I can actually catch the horses and look them over. In the summer I have to tromp out to the pasture in search of them. I'm hoping this year with the wet weather the cockleburs along the creek bed didn't get a chance to grow. I should probably get my lazy butt out to the pasture and do some fence checking and look for King's missing flymask (which he lost months ago)!

I worked Maverick a little last night. He seemed to really respond to some roundpen work. I'm not sure what the heck I'm doing but making him go both directions seemed to really get his attention. If I would have had more light (and better footing) I might have been willing to hop on. I won't have time to work Maverick tonight. I also started working on getting him to lift his feet. I spent last night and the night before working on that. He learns pretty darn quick. I know he's smarter than I am!

I still need to clean out the hay shed for the hay tomorrow. I also have to pull down Maverick's temporary stall in the hay shed. Once the hay is in place I can figure out where to put the temporary stall. Maybe by then we'll have the permanent stall in the hay shed built. Mike has the door almost complete. I think he's waiting on me to help figure out the latch.

I'm almost giddy about getting my hay. I just wish that I knew how much it was going to cost me upfront. I guess that's just a part of dealing with this hay guy. I'm sure it's going to be spendy. I have a general idea of what it will cost me but I better do some recalculating so I don't fall out of my chair when they hand me the bill.